Mapo Tofu

A 15 minutes recipe, mapo tofu is a quick, flavourful and delicious dish to prepare on a busy day. This Malaysian mapo tofu version is sweeter and not as spicy as compared to the original mapo tofu from Sichuan, China.

Category

Difficulty

Total Time

Yield

Ingredients

0.5 tbsp

oil

1

garlic clove(s)

1 cm

ginger

100 ml

water

2

shiitake mushroom(s)

1 tbsp

chilli bean sauce

50 g

minced meat

2 tbsp

ketchup

1

tofu (silken)

1 tbsp

corn flour

1 tbsp

water

0.5 tbsp

sugar

—

salt

1

scallions

Background

Mapo tofu is a typical Chinese dish from Sichuan, China. Depending on the countries, the taste and recipe of mapo tofu were adapted to suit the palate of the locals. In Malaysia, we enjoy mapo tofu as well. I personally love this dish because of the delicious gravy and most importantly, it is cooked using tofu as the main ingredient.

The original Mapo tofu from Sichuan is not only spicy but also gives off a numbing effect which is contributed by the spiciness of the famous Sichuan pepper. However, it is not common to have Sichuan pepper in Malaysian meals. Thus, it is no surprise that in Malaysia, Sichuan pepper is omitted from Mapo tofu. As I had been cooking this dish for years now, I had adjusted the recipe to be slightly sweeter while keeping it lightly spicy. I now have this dish often because of its simplicity in preparation.

Vegetarian or vegan mapo tofu

In this recipe, I used meat. Opt for a vegan version of Mapo tofu by omitting meat and replacing with mushroom. Preparation is very simple. To prepare vegan Mapo tofu, use double the amount of shiitake mushrooms to replace the meat. It tastes exceptionally great as the mushroom flavour goes really well with that of the chili bean sauce. In fact, I enjoy the vegan version most of the time as I try to abstain from meat as much as possible, especially during dinner. Serve this dish with rice and some fresh scallions as garnishing.

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Steps

Step 1/3

0.5 tbsp oil

1 garlic clove(s)

1 cm ginger

100 ml water

2 shiitake mushroom(s)

1 tbsp chilli bean sauce

50 g minced meat

Add oil into a preheated pan. Sauté ginger and garlic until fragrant and then add pork. Once pork is almost cooked, add shiitake mushrooms and chilli bean paste into the pan. Continue to sauté the ingredients for a minute.

Step 2/3

2 tbsp ketchup

1 tofu (silken)

Add water to the pan and increase the heat to allow the gravy to boil. Then, add ketchup. Once gravy begins to boil, add diced tofu. Allow dish to continue cooking for about 4 minutes.